I recently went for a PM interview and I was asked the following question: What is the difference between agressiveness and assertiveness? Should a PM be agressive or assertive?
A old collegue once told me someone who is great at nagging makes a great PM.
I find aggressiveness to be the wrong approach. Being aggressive just creates walls from my experience and you can be assertive while not coming across as an aggressive jerk.
As long as you stick to the issue at hand and not make anything personal, you will have success. I've worked with team members that clearly know they are wrong but fight to the bitter end "to be right" and I don't get aggressive with them at all. I assert my knowledge of the project and analyze the situation as objectively as possible and more often than not they cave in and do what they signed up for.
When it gets to the point of aggression, I escalate to their direct supervisor. Saving Changes...
Narayana MurtyProgram Manager| Dell InternationalHyderabad, Andhrapradesh, India
There is no hard and fast rule/guidelines that a PM should be agressive or assertive. In my opinion and experience, PM should be aggressive as well assertive at times and balance them as required for that situation. Saving Changes...
Although aggressive management might produce temporary results, an assertive management style will be more productive.
There are situations when a PM should be aggressive, especially when expected results are not delivered by the team members. However, it must be followed by a root cause analysis of the issue so that future problems are eliminated. Saving Changes...
It depends on the organisational style of management. As a rule in my experience it is best to be assertive and to lead by example, this approach will be respected by your teams and a reputation as a Task Master can be avoided at your cost. The aggresive way may get temporary results but teams will resent it. Women PM's are far more vulnerable in a male dominated working environment, where a man just might get away with the aggressiveness a woman in my opinion can be more effective by applying soft skills that do really get excellent cooperation\results. Saving Changes...
Rob MartinConsulting (Contract)| Microsoft (Thailand)Lam Luk Ka, Pathum Thani, Thailand
Assertive: Cares about the benefits of the Project and the long term cause and effect, balanced with a budget and a schedule and a quality commitment.
Agressive: Cares about the short term goals. Usually manifests itself in a schedule that's not doable, in underbudgeted or unreasonably scoped projects.
Being agressive works against your purpose, in my opinion. If there are discipline or other issues that are causing delays, then you must deal with them assertively and fairly. Aggression can be taken way to badly and in the wrong context. Also, cultural differences need to be taken into account.
Now if you're taking about an agressive timetable, that's a different discussion. :-)
Golden Rule, you can choose:
1. Cost (within budget)
2. Schedule (On time)
3. Quality (high quality)
You can pick two, one parameter pays the piper!!
Rob
Saving Changes...
Robert ProlProject Manager| KPMG LLPEast Sandwich, Ma, United States
I like Vasoula's reply. A leader needs to have a contingency-based approach. One size doesn't fit all situations. The organizational culture will dictate what is acceptable, and the situation you are faced with is part of the process of deciding how to lead.
Knowledge without experience is like water without a bucket to hold it in. Make mistakes, learn, and you'll develop your own style for project management. Saving Changes...
The culture should dictate the management style. Some cultures need, and some business owners want, a PM to kick in the door and provide a "better feared than loved" environment. In other cultures, this attitude will get you throw out the door in minutes. Get to know the culture and its boundaries before flexing any power muscle. But this thread originally asked "what is the difference between aggressiveness and assertiveness?" I guess my short answer would be that aggressiveness barks and bites while assertiveness nags. Aggressiveness doesn't usually lead to the pot of gold (again, depening on the culture of the organization). Saving Changes...
